"A Stake in the Heart
of the 450-foot tall Tower Planned for the Meatpacking District"

Manhattan -- The Greenwich Village Society for
Historic Preservation (GVSHP) hailed a dramatic reversal by the City today
overturning a Department of Buildings ruling which would have allowed
as-of-right high-rise residential development in manufacturing zones like the
Meatpacking District and parts of the Far West Village (CLICK
HERE FOR DOCUMENTS). The group's Save Gansevoort Market (SGM)
project had spearheaded a campaign to overturn a ruling issued last year at
the request of a developer of a proposed 450-foot tall tower at 848 Washington
Street in the meatpacking district. The area's manufacturing zoning prohibits
residential development, and the group successfully fought an attempt by the
developer to get a variance allowing the residential use for the tower in
early 2003. However, then the developer secured a ruling from the Department
of Buildings stating that since hotels are allowed in manufacturing zones,
they would allow the development to be 49% residential units, as long as the
remaining 51% were hotel units (CLICK
HERE for copy).

The "51/49" ruling, as it came to be known, was
fought vociferously by GVSHP because it would have allowed residential
development in manufacturing zones in sensitive areas like the Meatpacking
district and the Far West Village, areas which GVSHP was very concerned about
allowing inappropriate development (CLICK
HERE for additional info). The concern was
especially great in areas like the Meatpacking District, where multi-million
dollar condos were proposed directly across the street from dozens of
meatpacking businesses which it was feared would ultimately be pushed out by
the new residents who would inevitably complain about the noise, smell, and
traffic generated by the businesses. Because other areas of the Far West
Village are also zoned for manufacturing, there was a great fear that this
would suddenly open the floodgates to residential high-rise development
throughout the low-rise, historic area. GVSHP organized a broad campaign to
get the City to overturn the ruling, which included a letter-writing campaign
among Village residents which generated several thousand letters, postcards,
and e-mails to the Mayor on the issue, intensive lobbying by allied elected
officials including City Council Member Christine Quinn, State Senator Tom
Duane, Congressman Jerrold Nadler, and Assemblymember Deborah Glick, and
organizing a citywide coalition of groups representing manufacturing
neighborhoods throughout the city which lobbied the Mayor against the ruling.
Allied unions, including Local 342 of UFCW, which represents meatpacking
workers, also organized in the letter-writing campaign organized by GVSHP for
its workers, and dozens of meatpacking businesses as well as other businesses
organized letter-writing campaign coordinated by GVSHP (CLICK
HERE for more info).

"This is a tremendous victory for us and for
preserving the vitality of the Meatpacking District and protecting the Far
West Village from inappropriate development ," said GVSHP Executive Director
Andrew Berman, who led the campaign to overturn the ruling. "I am glad that
wiser heads prevailed at City Hall and intervened to reverse this ruling," he
added, referring to the initial response by Department of Buildings
Commissioner Patricia Lancaster vociferously defending the ruling last year
when GVSHP called for its reversal. "Our coalition of elected officials,
community groups, businesses, unions, workers, manufacturers, and just plain
average citizens really won the day, showing you can fight City Hall and win.
This is a stake in the heart of the plan for the 450-foot tall tower in the
Meatpacking District," Berman said.

On Sunday, hundreds of Village residents marched
through the streets of the Far West Village protesting the overdevelopment of
their neighborhood and proposed developments such as 848 Washington Street in
a demonstration led and organized by GVSHP. Thousands of postcards were
distributed and mailed in at the demonstration asking Mayor Bloomberg to
overturn the DOB 51/49 ruling, and to protect the rest of this neighborhood.
This followed a standing-room only Town Hall meeting in March sponsored by
GVSHP organizing residents to fight this ruling and fight for zoning changes
and landmarking protections for their neighborhood which would protect against
this and other kinds of inappropriate development (CLICK
HERE for further info). GVSHP and SGM had led the successful effort to get the Gansevoort Market Historic
District designated in 2003 (CLICK
HERE for further info) which protected
much of the Meatpacking District from overdevelopment but excluded the 848
Washington Street development site, much to the group's chagrin. While
development may still take place on this site, the ruling ensures that it
cannot be residential development, the main impetus behind the 450-foot tall
tower plans.

"This is a tremendous boost to our efforts to
preserve the Meatpacking District and the Far West Village," said Berman.
"Had this ruling stood, you would have seen dozens of these '51/49'
hotel/residential high-rises in our manufacturing zones, pushing out
businesses and destroying neighborhood character. And it would have given a
boost to those who would have sought to get variances or zoning changes to
allow 100% residential uses by claiming that they were allowed to built partly
residential already. This is a great victory for businesses and
neighborhoods, and anyone who cares about maintaining the integrity of our
zoning and planning process," he added.